Electrotherapy (e.g., defibrillation, cardioversion, and pacing) is commonly applied to patients suffering from cardiac arrest and other cardiac arrhythmias. Conventionally, electrotherapy has been applied using “hard paddles” sized appropriately for the individual undergoing treatment. Some paddle designs have integrated two or more paddle sizes utilizing clip-or slide-on/off adapters of larger or smaller size. More commonly today, “soft paddle” products are used, which provide single-use, disposable, conductive adhesive electrode pads for arrhythmia monitoring and therapy delivery. Multiple-size soft paddles or pads are offered for varying sized patients. Sizes are commonly classified for use by age or weight of the patient.
Electrotherapy devices, such as defibrillators, are becoming more widespread. This has been driven in part by the introduction and acceptance of automated external defibrillators or AEDs. AEDs are used by first responders such as police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians to resuscitate victims of sudden cardiac arrest. Studies have shown that the chances of successfully resuscitating a patient decrease approximately 10 percent per minute following the onset of sudden cardiac arrest. Accordingly, for a victim of sudden cardiac arrest, time is of the essence in defibrillating the patient's heart.
AEDs are designed to be very easy to use so that rescuers without extensive medical training can provide defibrillation therapy to victims of sudden cardiac arrest. AEDs are currently carried in emergency vehicles such as police cars, paramedic vehicles, and fire trucks. AEDs are also widely deployed in areas where large numbers of people gather, such as at sports stadiums, gambling casinos, theme parks, etc. As AEDs have evolved, they have become more and more intuitive to use and are now being used by individuals with limited or no medical training. This trend is expected to continue.
AEDs almost exclusively use soft paddles for therapy delivery. At the present time, however, AEDs are also almost exclusively used on adults and are recommended only for use on patients that are 8 years old or greater. Although cardiac arrest occurs predominantly in adults, circumstances arise in which defibrillation therapy is medically indicated for children. Consequently, there is a need for defibrillator devices, especially AEDs, to have pediatric capabilities.
Soft electrode pads sized for pediatric patients are available for use with manual defibrillators. As AED designs become adapted for pediatric delivery in terms of ECG recognition and therapy dosing, the pediatric pads available today can be utilized for pediatric defibrillation and resuscitation. However, there is resistance to adding small-sized, disposable electrode pad sets to AEDs, principally due to the added cost, packaging limitations, significantly lower likelihood of use, and limited shelf-life of the electrodes. Multiple separate electrode sets with separate connectors may also be confusing to untrained users.
Some users, when faced with the need for pediatric defibrillation and resuscitation, cut down larger pads for use on children and newborns. Although a creative approach, this method can compromise the therapy delivered due to uncontrolled altering of the current distribution area of the pad, along with the potential reduction of adhesive coupling of the pad to the skin. In addition, the safety characteristics of the electrode pad are compromised by removal of some of the insulative portion of the pad that commonly surrounds the conductive area.
There is, therefore, a need for a disposable electrode pad set that can easily be adapted for use on varying sized patients at a usage cost and package size below that of multiple individual sets, with greater convenience. There is also a need for a system that senses the configuration of the electrode pads placed on a patient for controlling the therapy delivery to the patient. The present invention is directed toward satisfying these needs and other shortcomings in the prior art.